wfn.org | Candidate for stated clerk advocates return to historic Presbyterian

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Note #5940 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

confessions
16-June-2000
00237

	Candidate for stated clerk advocates return to historic Presbyterian
confessions

	Texas pastor challenges Kirkpatrick

	by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A Texas pastor who is a candidate for stated clerk of the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly contends that the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.) has been "turned upside-down" but can right itself by
returning to its historic confessions, creeds and catechisms.

	The Rev. Winfield "Casey" Jones, pastor of  First Presbyterian Church in
Pearland, Texas, just outside of Houston, says a clergywoman from California
will nominate him from the 212th General Assembly floor in Long Beach,
Calif., on Sunday, June 25.

	If so, Jones will oppose the incumbent clerk, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick,
who has been nominated for a second four-year term by the Stated Clerk
Nomination Committee.

	Kirkpatrick has spent much of his first term working to revitalizing the
denomination's governing bodies and opening a dialogue between the church's
polarized factions -- in the words of the current catch-phrase, seeking
"unity in diversity."

	Jones isn't opposed to that, but he thinks the boundaries are too fuzzy. 

	"We spend too much time trying to do theology sociologically," he told the
Presbyterian News Service. "We try to figure out what everybody else thinks
.. try to find the middle position and include everybody, and make
everybody happy.

	"I think a confessional church operating on ‘sola scriptura' ("scripture
alone") operates differently," he added. "We say, ‘This is what we
understand the witness of scripture to be; can you affirm that, live with
that, abide by that, until you get enough votes to change it?'"

	Jones, citing a recent decision by the General Assembly Permanent Judicial
Commission  to not forbid Presbyterian pastors from performing same-sex
union services because they are not explicitly prohibited in the "Book of
Order" -- the governance section of the church's  constitution -- recited
what is becoming his mantra: confessions, confessions, confessions.

	"[The current clerk's pastoral letter on the decision] doesn't mention
scripture or the confessions," Jones pointed out, arguing that the doctrinal
half of the constitution -- the "Book of Confessions" -- interprets
scripture as saying that same-gender sex is sinful.

	"And that's symptomatic of where we are, Jones wrote in a June 7 letter to
commissioners and advisory delegates to the 212th General Assembly.  "We
emphasize the ‘Book of Order' a lot, but we really don't talk about the
confessions, that help us summarize scripture, and [therefore], enhance the
authority of scripture."

	Jones didn't publicly disagree with the court's ruling, but wrote, "I
believe that the clerk, pursuant to his duty to preserve and defend the
Constitution, should have pointed out the relevant confessional statements."

	Jones' platform consists essentially of an observation that the church
needs to make better use of the confessions, and doing so ought to be
primary for the church's top ecclesiastical officer.

	 "The clerk has the highest duty to preserve and defend our confessions,"
he said. "In my opinion, he or she fulfills that obligation by consistently
calling our attention to the confessions and what they say."

	The "Book of Confessions" -- part I of the PC(USA) constitution -- includes
11 creeds, catechisms and confessions dating back to 325 A.D. -- from the
Nicene Creed of that era through the Westminster Confession of the 1600s and
A Brief Statement of Faith, which was written after the 1983 reunion of the
two largest U.S. Presbyterian churches to form the PC(USA).

	The "Book of Order" is Part II of the constitution.

	Jones said southern-church opponents of reunion argued -- correctly, in his
opinion -- that too many creeds makes for unfocused theology.

	"It seems to be turning out that the re-united church would be
a-confessional and a-theological because of the multiplicity of confessions,
Jones wrote in an essay published on his congregation's web page.  "I do not
believe the current clerk has caused this situation, but I believe that it
is the clerk's job to take the lead in changing it!"

	He put forth a similar argument in his June 7 letter, insisting that the
church is in a theological crisis because of its weak theological identity.
The only corrective, in Jones' opinion, is a turn to "a biblical and
creedal" faith that hones scriptural truths.

	Jones says clear, simple messages of that kind are essential for Christian
young people, who face a culture of moral chaos.

	Although Jones's face is not a familiar one on the national church scene,
he has long held the view that the denomination ought to define the
"essential tenets" of Reformed faith and polity, something that prior
General Assemblies have been unable or reluctant to do. During the 208th
General Assembly, in Albuquerque, N.M., Jones was an advocate for an
overture calling for more specificity in areas of creedal theology, such as
the incarnation, the Trinity and justification by faith.

	If Jones, or anyone, is nominated from the floor, the Stated Clerk
Nomination Committee will convene again in Long Beach, this time adding
Assembly commissioners to its ranks. It will examine all candidates --
including its current nominee, Kirkpatrick -- and will still bring a single
nomination to the body on Friday, June 30, but commissioners will have the
opportunity to vote on all the candidates.
	
	Jones is a former law student and a 1979 graduate of Union Theological
Seminary in Virginia. He has pastored two churches in Texas.  He was a
commissioner to the 1995 General Assembly in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has
worked on several presbytery-level committees.
	
	Jones, admitting that his candidacy is a long shot, said he has become 
"more convinced than ever" in the past six weeks that seeking the office of
stated clerk -- and seeking to "preserve and defend the constitution" -- is
what he is called to do.

	The stated clerk is responsible for the PC(USA)'s ecclesiastical affairs,
including the annual meeting of the General Assembly, the keeping of the
minutes and records of the church, the management of church judicial
processes, the maintenance of historical records and archives, and
coordination of relations with other churches and church councils.

	The salary range for the clerk is $75,555 to $128,445.

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